Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Or so Noam Chomsky would have you believe. If you've been watching Europe, you can't possibly utter such nonsense with a straight face unless you're as delusional as Chomsky is. Carol Gould relates her experiences with antisemitism and anti-Americanism in the article linked above, which contains this abusive rant from the proprietor of a tape-duplicating shop she had known for ten years:

"'Is this another one of your Jewish-Holocaust things?’ I was speechless. He scowled and continued, ‘You know, Carol, I want to get something off my chest that I’ve been dying to say to you for years. Number one, just don’t say Israel to me. Number two, you people should look at yourselves in the mirror and wonder why every so often there is a Holocaust or massacre or pogrom. You bring it on yourselves. Just look at the way you are and then figure out why the rest of the world wants to flatten you. Number three, America throwing money at Israel has to stop, and hopefully all hell will break loose. Israel is not a country. I just hear the word and I turn puce.’ By this time his anger was so visceral that I wanted to head for the door, but I had to take a stand. ‘Let me tell you,’ I said, ‘If the USA or Israel came under threat I know many Americans who would die for either country,’ to which he replied, ‘ Israel is not a country. The Jews have no right to a country. What makes you people think you have a right to a country? ‘ Me: ‘There are over a hundred Christian countries and fifty-five Muslim countries.’ He:’ The Jews have no right to a country.’ Me: ’What, a strip of land the size of Wales?!’ He (grinding his teeth and close to hitting me) ‘ Just say Israel and I can’t be depended upon for the consequences of my actions, Carol.'"

This is unbelievably common all over Europe, especially lately. The last time people felt like they could slander Jews openly, we had a World War. Seems like something we should put the kibosh on, don't you think?